Playing House
by KellyKindaHeartsU
Summary: Kagome plays house with Sesshoumaru after they get married in their Home Ec Class.
1. Chapter 1

(Author's note: I don't own Inuyasha or anything of much importance.)

Chapter 1. Hypercritic

"It's hideous."

"Yes," Kagome replied, practically spitting out the word, her blue eyes seething with rage at the moronic teacher that sat beside her. "We have already gone over that. What I want to talk about is my grade," the young beauty continued in a completely contrived polite tone.

Ah yes, Kagome's grade. The fall quarter at Posers High had barely begun, and yet the chic schoolgirl had already received the shock of her life, an F in choir. Now Kagome is a very smart girl and all, but an F is a pretty big hole for any person to pull themselves out of. That, and it's also Kagome's last year at Posers High. To put it lightly, she was so over this place. Hence the blue eyed beauty's decision to meet with her teacher to see what could be done. However, the meeting was more of an emotional beating than anything else, with the choir teacher Mrs. Kagura babbling on and on about how much Kagome sucked.

Ok, so, she didn't explicitly say that the young schoolgirl sucked with the instructor's exact words being that Kagome's "voice sucked". Regardless of what is was about Kagome that "sucked", all the pretty girl wanted was to get her grade changed; after all hadn't she always shown up for class? Granted, never on time, but she did show up. Eventually. So, her grade had to be some kind of mistake right?

"Ms. Higurashi, the grade stands as is unless you drop the class." Apparently not. And as those words left the clownish red lips of Kagome's rude instructor, the bell rang.

"Thanks," was annoyed schoolgirl's curt reply as she gathered her things and ran out the door, not caring how that witch would respond. After all the school day had just begun for Kagome with the meeting taking place right before first period and making the raven haired beauty late for class. Feeling pissed that she still had an F, Kagome decided to skip class and go to the counselor's office to see her old buddy, literally, Kaede.

Once seated in the confines of the counselor's office and after they exchanged pleasantries, Kagome found herself telling the counselor her whole life story, which in Kaede's humble opinion, had a few dull chapters in it, and the older woman was being generous in her criticism. Real generous. As the raven haired girl was spilling the very essence of her soul, Kaede successfully dropped Kagome from choir with the grade gone and enrolled her in another class. The older woman described the new course as being somewhat odd, but the charming young girl was too busy chatting away to really pay any heed to the matter.

Kagome's day flew by after her meeting with the eye patch loving counselor with nothing really eventful happening. The cute girl had assumed that lunch was going to be filled with drama seeing as how that was the first chance that Kagome got to tell her friends that she was dropping choir, the only class that all five of them, (them being, Miroku, his girlfriend Sango and the childhood friends Ayame and Koga) had together. But they all were alarmingly cool with it. In fact Kagome could have sworn that she saw Sango and Miroku smile at the news. The smart young girl had vowed then and there to get herself new friends immediately, really good ones that would like lie about her lack of talent.

Anyway, it was only a minute or so before the last hour of the day, and Kagome was currently spending way too much time at her locker. Well, more like inside her locker. The now frazzled young girl was frantically searching through the confines of her young adult cubby hole for her favorite bubblegum flavored lip gloss. A classic beauty, Kagome was never one to slather on makeup like stucco paint, but she wasn't one of those people that deemed makeup to be the Antichrist either. The irritated schoolgirl sifted through a month's worth of crap that had accumulated in her locker to no avail.

With a frustrated sigh the young student slammed her locker door shut. No doubt one of her friends had abducted her beloved gloss or possibly the janitor although he was a dude. A very sketchy dude…

As the stupid bell rang Kagome realized something; she had absolutely no idea where she was supposed to be. The young girl had been so relived to not be in choir anymore that she never bothered looking at what class she was now enrolled in. A tad nervous, Kagome took the sheet out of her folder and leaned against her locker as she read it.

"Home Ec? Really?" The blue eyed beauty pondered. "In this day and age? With microwaveable meals so readily available?" The art of cooking completely lost on her, the raven haired girl raced down the now empty halls to her classroom. Yeah, being late wasn't going to be the best first impression, but Kagome figured she could always say she got lost. Sure, she was a senior, but shit happens right?

When Kagome reached her destination, she paused for a minute to check herself over. Once she felt confident that her dark denim miniskirt wasn't riding up on her and that her white button down top was indeed buttoned correctly, unlike the peep show that was yesterday, the young student took a deep breath. Running a hand through her silky black tresses which were adorned with a white cloth headband, Kagome turned the doorknob.

The young schoolgirl stood in the door frame looking at her new classmates who now all had their eyes fixated on her. Scanning the room Kagome felt her heart skip a beat when she locked eyes with her former best friend Sesshoumaru.

The gorgeous young man was staring at her with such fervent golden eyes that Kagome couldn't help but fall victim to feelings of apprehension. The high school senior started fidgeting under her ex-friend's impassioned stare, finally deciding to glance at the only other familiar face in the room, her lunch buddy Koga, for relief. He gave the young school girl a huge knowing smile and a wink, causing Kagome to blush in spite of herself.

"Excuse me, I don't mean to bother you while you stand and openly gawk at my students, but I just thought that I should introduce myself. I am Renkotsu, your teacher," the socially retarded teacher stated, his abrupt words lulling the young girl back to the here and now.

Having been so engrossed in her own thoughts, Kagome had yet to enter the classroom or even acknowledge her new instructor. Looking at the annoying man who was trying to use her in some vain attempt to seem less like a loser, the charming girl couldn't help but flash a deviously sweet smile. Her new teacher was totally wearing makeup and not in a cool sexy Visual Kei kind of way either.

"Just so you know, Kagome, I find pleasantries and subsequent titles to be meaningless; it will serve you well to remember this," Renkotsu said while his face contorted into a decrepit smile as he leered at Kagome who was taking all of his idiocies in stride. The bubbly young girl was a senior after all.

"I understand, Mr. Bandofseven sir, no titles," Kagome replied with a bright smile as she walked over to join her totally annoying teacher at the front of the classroom. As the young girl satisfyingly gazed at all the chiseled faces of her classmates, something become blindingly clear to Kagome-there were only boys in this class! No doubt they had all probably left their Home Ec requirement until their last year of High School with some feeble hope that the requirement would somehow disappear.

"Kagome, I was just sharing with the class what our new project is. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to go over it again. There are definitely some slow ones in here," Renkostu said, his dry voice raising a few octaves as he shared that last nugget of gossip.

Kagome just nodded her head in response while her vibrant blue eyes betrayed her by wandering over to her ex-friend. It had been one whole month since the young schoolgirl and Sesshoumaru stopped talking to each other. Both sides at the time had just accepted that their friendship was over without ever discussing the matter.

Her former best friend looked stunning sitting in the last row of the classroom in the corner by himself, 'always the recluse,' Kagome thought as a soft smile painted her cute face. The egotistical young man was wearing a pair of black slacks along with a black button up shirt that exposed a little of his rock hard chest and ivory skin, his clothes adding to the already intimidating presence that Sesshoumaru had conjured up through out his lifetime.

Sesshoumaru's long white hair was pulled into a high ponytail that was held in place by a strip of black leather. Sinful cravings called out to Kagome upon seeing her former friend's hair restricted as the beautiful young man usually wore his hair down. But this was a pleasant surprise, a look that was more like a tease than a fashion statement. One that taunted the young girl, daring her to go up to him and bring emancipation to Sesshoumaru's beautiful locks. Or at least that's how Kagome was interpreting things, the schoolgirl having often fantasized about her former friend's gorgeous hair cascading over her body like a waterfall as he feverously drowned her in kisses. But on days like today when he wore it up, there were so many possibilities to be explored. Perhaps Kagome would yank it free while Sesshoumaru had her little form pressed up against a wall as he hungrily crashed his lips into hers.

Her heated thoughts overwhelming her, Kagome's hands started to twitch, so much so that for a moment the young beauty feared that she must appear to her classmates to have a nerves tick. The blushing girl was so busy mussing over her lost love and her primal desires that she didn't even realize that she had missed the inept teacher's explanation of the assignment.

"Kagome, who do you want to marry?" Renkostu inquired bluntly.

"Who?" Kagome responded, finally snapping out of her hot young man induced stupor.

"Oh, right. You just joined this class today, so of course you wouldn't know which students are available," the relentlessly asinine instructor explained stating the obvious. "The whole class is partnered up except for Inuyasha, Koga and Sesshoumaru. Of those three who do you want to marry?"

"Sesshoumaru." The flushed girl answered quickly, no thinking necessary. Her navy blue eyes were glued to Sesshoumaru when she gave her brisk reply, and the young girl was able to see her former friend's diminutive reaction to the news that he would be 'married' to Kagome.

"Ok, now go sit next to your husband as we wait, yet again for Inuyasha." The lobotomized instructor said with a gross ring to his voice.

Kagome obeyed her disturbed instructor and leisurely made her way over to Sesshoumaru and sat down right next to him as Inuyasha burst through the room spewing some totally lame excuse about being late due to saving his girlfriend Kikyo who had been in mortal danger. For Kikyo had put a dollar in the soda pop machine, and it had eaten her money while giving her nothing in return, a truly tragic situation.

After his little performance Sesshoumaru's half brother started throwing a fit at the news that he was now 'married' to Koga. Or at least that is what Kagome thought went down. Truthfully the pretty girl hadn't really been paying attention to what was happing at the front of the classroom, the newly 'married' young girl's brain having gone into to overdrive thinking about her 'husband' the second her ass hit the seat. It was a given that the young man was devilishly sexy with a smirk that made Kagome melt but what really got her blood flowing was the fact that his deliciously dangerous charm was wrapped up in such an ethereal looking package.

People always throw around lines like 'we're on the same level', but for once in her life Kagome actually felt like someone was. Not that Sesshoumaru would ever degrade himself by using such dorky lines. But she knew that last summer he had enjoyed her witty comments and energetic vibe. Sure, it was hidden from all eyes but hers under the beautiful young man's usual stoic manner, but in the course of their summer long friendship Kagome had gotten pretty damn good at reading him. Then he was gone, out of the cute girl's life ever since the first day of school this year.

It was dumb really for Kagome to pick him as her partner, but she just missed him so much. Maybe the gorgeous young man could just forget about what had happened, and they could go back to being friends again? True, Kagome wanted to be more than friends, but right now the straight A student was willing to settle for something as mundane as a 'hey' in the hallway.

"Hey! Everyone, work as couples for the remainder of the hour, ok?" the dense teacher's words drawing the 'newlywed' out of her memories of the past and into the present.

Turning her tiny frame and looking at Sesshoumaru's beautiful but blank face, Kagome gave him a tight smile. While the schoolgirl had viewed her smile as an olive branch of sorts to end their cold war, it must have come off goofy or something because the stunning young man's eyes violently crashed into the young girl's, the usual glow that she had grown accustom to seeing completely gone.

"So, what are we doing here exactly?" Kagome inquired while taking her eyes off of Sesshoumaru, having felt naked under his heated stare. Of all the things to say to her former friend after their time apart it wasn't the most intelligent, but the raven hared beauty was trying to act just as unfazed by their current situation as Sesshoumaru. The striking young man studied her quietly for a moment and was about to reply when a brutal scream rang throughout the classroom.

"You have got to be kidding me! How come my depressing brother gets a real flesh and bones chick, and I am stuck with this!" Inuyasha barked while Koga glared at him, and the rest of the class started laughing at the not so happy couple.

"I guess the honeymoon's over for those two, huh?" the blue eyed cutie commented once her laughter had died down.

"Whatever you say." The ethereal young man replied, his voice sounding smooth with a blasé ring to it, his sunkissed eyes roaming around the classroom acting just as aloof as Sesshoumaru. The vain young man pulled his pearly white tresses free from their leather confine and ran a hand through his divine hair, causing Kagome to almost start drooling at the sight of it all. The young beauty quickly regained control, however; well, enough control to snap her mouth shut when Sesshoumaru's gold plated eyes finally rested on her apparently waiting for her to, ugh, do something.

"Just so you know," Kagome said trying to sound light and playful which was really hard when Sesshoumaru was sitting so close to her, looking at his former friend like he had never meet the cute girl before. "I want a good grade in whatever it is that we are doing. Ok?"

Once the words left Kagome's mouth the super smart girl realized just how utterly moronic her word choice was.

The former friends were both at the top of their class with Kagome being number one even though the young girl had taken on a tad bit of a slacker vibe during her senior year and Sesshoumaru second. So, it wasn't like the gorgeous young man was slow or anything, but 'old habits of telling off incompetent group members die hard' Kagome theorized. Sesshoumaru just stared at his 'wife' with an intense scowl gracing his beautiful face so, yeah, it was kind of obvious to the pretty girl that he wasn't really pleased with her comments.

For the first time that day the school bell was Kagome's buddy by choosing to ring right during the awkward silence that had began to smother her and Sesshoumaru.

Before the 'newlywed' had a chance to ask Sesshoumaru what the assignment actually was about, the stoic young man bolted out of the classroom. Feeling slightly idiotic, the bubbly girl went after him. Easily spotting his white mane through the herd of students, Kagome made her way to Sesshoumaru's locker. When she had caught up with the beautiful young man, Sesshoumaru had just finished getting his things and was starting to walk away. Standing before her 'spouse' and thus blocking his path, the chic schoolgirl started talking.

"I still don't know what our project is about," Kagome stated only to see Sesshoumaru take on an even more detached disposition than usual, causing the blue eyed cutie to become flustered.

"Could we work at your house? I don't think my mom is going to be very thrilled that I got married without inviting her," Kagome said. With the charming girl talking as if they were actually married, Sesshoumaru eyes started to look slightly amused. Encouraged, Kagome prepared to continue on, confident that what she would say next would dazzle the dreamy man that stood before her. Gazing into Sesshoumaru's humor laden honey eyes, Kagome's mind got all hazy, and her heart started to race.

"So, ugh, yeah. You know what I am saying?" the young girl awkwardly inquired embarrassed at how dense she sounded. The straight A student gave her 'husband' a weak smile and for his part Sesshoumaru just stared at the raven hared girl with no emotion evident in his golden orbs, making Kagome feel like a fool.

"I'll drive," was all Sesshoumaru monotone voice said as he walked past her and made his way to the parking lot with a surprised Kagome trailing behind the rude young man.

"I guess that's a yes," mumbled Kagome to no one as she slowly made her way to the school's parking lot, the bubbly girl optioning not to go to her locker as the 'wife' of Sesshoumaru having already decided that she totally deserved the day off from her homework.

Making her way through the flock of students that were occupying the school's parking lot like it was a mall, Kagome tried to find her 'husband's' black BMW only to have it nearly kill her. Sure, the car wasn't running, and Kagome had been the one who had actually forged the impact of the two objects by walking right into her former friend's shiny black sports car, but still, Sesshoumaru's diabolical intentions were readily apparent to the now bruised young girl.

"You are such a nerd! What time do you get up to get such a prime spot?" Kagome questioned, light laughter dancing in her voice while her hand much like her leg was drawn to the glossy car, petting it in an act of atonement. The pretty girl was trying to make amends for her careless indiscretion but really she was just getting the glossy car full of fingerprints.

"Kagome, would you please stop smudging my car?" asked Sesshoumaru his voice dry as he started up the car, but the beautiful young man's golden eyes were sparkling as he stared at his 'wife'.

Locking eyes with Sesshoumaru, Kagome's gave her 'husband' an innocent smile as she gave the hood of his car one final slow and deeply meaningful rub before getting in. Once the blue eyed cutie's skirt was perfectly situated so that the leather of the carseat wasn't sticking to her porcelain skin, Kagome turned on the stereo, an admittedly bad habit that the young girl had yet to address because it bothered everyone but her. That, and Kagome loves knowing the secret musical taste of her friends or this case former friend.

"A book on CD Sesshoumaru? I always had my suspicions that you were illiterate!" Kagome said as vivacious laughter poured out of her due to the loud authoritative voice that was now seeping out of the speakers. Turning toward her ex-friend, the cute girl realized that the eyes of her classmates were now looking at the 'married' couple all judgmental and whatnot trying to decipher what kind of music was seeping out of Sesshoumaru's expensive car.

Choosing to remain quiet, like that would somehow distance him from the spectacle that he and his wife had become, Sesshoumaru peeled out of the school's parking lot. As the gorgeous young man drove wordlessly and way too fast for his 'wife's' liking to his Father's home, Kagome was really trying to tone down her laughter. It was a general rule of the straight A student's to at least try and appear sane in front of people.

"You sure got out of there quick. Ashamed? You should be." Kagome stated in an admirable attempt to sound like herself and if the raven haired young girl was coming off awkward or whatever she could always blame it post-wedding jitters. "I suppose I should just be thankful that you managed not to hit anyone else."

The beautiful man glanced at his 'wife' for a moment, his golden eyes shining like the setting sun. "Else? Kagome, you walked into my car. I have plenty of witnesses. The whole school saw it," Sesshoumaru replied, his tone smooth and confident. Just like a conman's.

"Building a case already I see," the bubbly young girl countered while watching her former friend who gave his 'wife' a sharp fiery glance in response.

Looking at him as a light smile painted her pretty face, Kagome thoughts delved into the realm of what might have been. Sesshoumaru driving her to and from school was something that the young school girl had thought was going to happen every day of her senior year.

The sweet girl had hung out with Sesshoumaru like every day last summer. And of course Kagome had always been late as is her nature, and let's just say that the young man hadn't too happy about that. Something the blue eyed cutie was made completely aware of by Sesshoumaru. Daily.

At first Sesshoumaru had just made blunt comments about his precious time and whatnot. Then seeing that his comments did absolutely nothing, the striking young man started honking his horn insistently, purposely trying to get a rise out of her. But the music that Kagome played when she got ready was always cranked up crazy loud, so the vivacious young girl wasn't even aware of what Sesshoumaru was doing until her beady eyed neighbor told her. Honestly though, that wackjob more than likely already had the Higurashi's house under surveillance, so the chic girl really didn't give a crap.

And so, with his back to the wall, Sesshoumaru did something drastic. The beautiful young man physically came in to get Kagome, which the blue eyed cutie totally loved, being carried bridal style by such a hot young man in front of her creepy neighbor who no doubt had started to look forward to the daily drama that was the afternoon routine of Kagome and Sesshoumaru.

Watching her former friend drive like a mad man with a stone cold expression dominating his beautifully handsome face, it seemed certain to Kagome that she would never again take part in such activities with Sesshoumaru.

Giving a slight sigh, the young beauty opted to let the words emitting from the CD engulf her. Not that she had much of a choice, seeing as how Sesshoumaru was essentially a mute. So, the two former friends drove quietly listing to the book on CD with Kagome silently going insane trying to remember were she had read the words being spoken before. Finally, the smart young girl had her epiphany; Sesshoumaru was listening to some dude read _Nicomachean Ethics_ by Aristotle.

"Isn't it just a tad pretentious to listen to Philosophy on your way to school? I mean, really, I am aware that you are Sesshoumaru, but come on!" Kagome happily stated, proud that she had finally figured out what they were listing to. And from the way Sesshoumaru's eyes for a minuscule second had widened in astonishment, the blue eyed beauty knew that she was probably the only person to have guessed correctly.

"So, tell me, just who are you trying to impress?" Kagome asked, forging fake curiosity and intimacy by titling her head to the side as she gazed at her 'husband' trying to lure the attractive man on.

The cute schoolgirl knew full well that Sesshoumaru was irritated by people who read books or certain authors only for image's sake so that they could come off as deep. In fact, it was due to this known weakness of the stunning young man that while they were friends Kagome had purposely read about things like the history of butter. Stupid things like that which she clearly had no interest in just so she could feed the information to Sesshoumaru in the hopes of pissing him off. Needless to say it worked every time. Well, except for the time when the blue eyed cutie had read about the history of the coffee bean-let's just say that the striking young man totally hearts his _Starbucks._

"I don't need to impress anyone," Sesshoumaru asserted in his deep voice, sounding bored while his golden plated eyes looked straight ahead, which was a good move on his part seeing as how he was, like, driving.

"Who are you trying to convince here, Sesshoumaru, you or me?" The charming young girl couldn't help but reply as a devious smile covered her sweet face.

Casting a glance at the cute girl, Sesshoumaru maliciously ran a hand through his pearly locks, captivating Kagome's attention. 'I swear it is like he is mocking me!' the now flushed young girl thought as she watched her 'husband's' strong hands play within his glossy white tresses. The desire to further harass Sesshoumaru about the obvious impactions of his statement abandoned, the young girl felt dangerously close to mauling the sexy as sin young man as each agonizing second passed.

"I listen to it, so I don't have to take part in inane conversations," Sesshoumaru added as he pulled into the driveway of his father's white colonial mansion.

"Like anyone wants to talk to you!" Kagome couldn't help but blurt out while casting a glance at the arrogant young man. While Sesshoumaru gave a small frown in response, his eyes were gleaming with mischief. The bubbly girl just shook her head at the stunning young man while trying to hide a smile. After all this time, she still could read her stoic ex-friend like a children's book, with utter ease.

Walking into Sesshoumaru's father's home side by side with the sinfully attractive young man, Kagome felt like her memories were in danger of distorting her newfound reality. With each step the images and sounds of her past with Sesshoumaru came flooding back. The car ride so easily enjoyable, their days spent together last summer when they would eat ice cream and wear short shorts with the air conditioning blaring as they drove around aimlessly teasing one another. Ok, so Kagome had been the only one who had worn short shorts, but the car ride they just taken pretty much followed the same formula they had used all summer long.

Entering the massive house, the two young students headed toward the kitchen. The minute they arrived in the spacious room, Sesshoumaru started stripping himself of his belongings; much to Kagome's dismay his clothing remained intact. Sitting down at the kitchen table the 'newlyweds' eyed each other for a moment. The gorgeous young man's eyes were electric, flashing different emotions like lighting bolts yet still betraying nothing, nothing at all. Such a hollow look was like a heavy wind obliterating everything in its path.

"Kagome, do you want me to go over the project?" Sesshoumaru asked and even though his words were smooth and polite they couldn't hide the fact that the elegant young man was eyeing his former friend like a stranger.

"Yeah, thanks," was Kagome's reply as a small smile graced her pretty face. As Sesshoumaru started explaining the reason behind their holy union, the tense young girl totally zoned out. The sweet girl just couldn't believe how her former friend was acting. Where she felt like a bumbling fool when she was with him, her sensitive heart messing with her coolness, Sesshoumaru was totally unaffected by their new arrangement. 'Must be nice,' Kagome thought miserably.

The married couple was so busy working on their project, Sesshoumaru talking and Kagome pretending to listen, that they totally didn't see that Inuyasha had just entered the kitchen and raided the cookie jar. In fact they only noticed Sesshoumaru's half brother when food started to fall on Kagome's 'husband's' broad shoulder.

"Oh, hey, look Sesshoumaru, an actual girl. Isn't this a nice change?" Inuysaha said laughing loudly, very loudly, his words coming off distorted because even though he was speaking with a high volume he also totally had food in his mouth. A sappy grin painted Sesshoumaru's brother face as cookie crumbs continued to fall from the baked good he was holding with a death grip onto Kagome's ex-best friend's shoulder due to Inuysaha's body shaking violently because apparently something was really funny.

As elegantly as possible, Sesshoumaru removed the cookie crumbs from his person while giving his half brother a fatally sharp glare. Oddly enough after that, Inuysaha promptly stopped his soul piercing laughter and quickly left the kitchen.

"I need to change my shirt. Excuse me." Sesshoumaru stated, his honey eyes closed as he spoke with the stunning young man obviously trying to restrain himself from killing his half brother.

After her 'husband' had left the room, Kagome grabbed the book he had placed on the table to see if she had read it before. It turned out to be a book about Japanese swords. 'Sesshoumaru is such a little boy,' the young schoolgirl thought with a soft smile as she leafed through the book and started to giggle a little when she noticed the top of a bookmark. Since Kagome was the type of person who always lost bookmarks, she thought it was cute when people could actually keep up such a taxing commitment.

Opening the hardcover book to the marked page, Kagome's heart stared beating rabidly within her chest. What she found was not a bookmark. It was a photo, a black and white headshot of herself mid-laugh. The chic young girl had never really cared for the photograph-it didn't even make Kagome's shrine of herself on Facebook. Sesshoumaru though had always insisted that it was a great photo, the gorgeous man saying that it captured the high school senior's sunny sprit perfectly. Running her hand over the glossy photograph, Kagome remembered how her ex-best friend had lent her an old-fashioned camera so she could try her hand at photography. When Kagome had been struck by a fit of giggles over her own ineptitude at using such technology Sesshoumaru had taken the camera and snapped a photo of her bubbly laughter.

Heavy footsteps on the marble floor alerting the flustered young girl to Sesshoumaru's impending arrival, Kagome's tiny hands fumbled a bit as she put the photo back and tried to look unaffected. As if a piece of kindling hadn't just been added to the fire that was burning deep within the fortress of the young girl's heart.

"Kagome." Sesshoumaru's deep voice rumbled as he reentered the room. The blushing young girl for a moment gave the young man all of her attention as he gracefully seated himself across from her. Just for a moment she relaxed in the smooth words of her sinfully beautiful 'husband'.

The blushing girl tried not to draw attention to the fact that her body was smoldering with lust for the god-like young man seated across from her while her mind resided in a worldpool of confusion. Kagome knew for certain that Sesshoumaru was if nothing else, a very calculating man. Obviously he knew his bookmark was a photo of her-any idiot with eyes could. So, most likely Sesshoumaru still cared about Kagome, even if the pretty girl fell into the much despised friend category. But then why had he ended their friendship? After all, Sesshoumaru was the one that abruptly stopped talking to her with Kagome just following suit, the young schoolgirl having been too embarrassed about what happened to do otherwise.

(Author Notes: Hi!! Thanks for reading my new story. I was going to use more exclamation points there but decided to restrain myself for this sentence!! That didn't even make sense did it? Oh, well, whatever, I am not one for making sense. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. See you next chapter!!! Oh, there I go again…)


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2. It

'Damn it! Why can't I just be one of those morons who never concern themselves with actual thoughts and the meanings behind things? Being smart is generally a good thing but right now it's a total pain in the ass,' Kagome thought irritably, praying that sleep would soon claim her and free her from herself.

Thanks to Sesshoumaru's photograph, Kagome was analyzing her analyzing, her latest finding severely cutting at her heart while totally messing with her brain. Like a Tivo junkie the dubiously exuberant girl kept replaying her memories of their time together over and over again in her head. Struggling to make sense of things, Kagome thought back to why her friendship with Sesshoumaru had ended in the first place.

The top students of Posers High's senior class friendship had ended on the first day of school this year. The extremely smart duo had gone to Kagome's house after school with the intention of doing absolutely nothing under the totally clichéd lie of working on homework. They had been hanging out in the messy girl's bedroom, listening to death metal upon Sesshoumaru's request when Kagome's mother had embarrassingly interrupted and asked to talk to the young schoolgirl for just a moment, leaving Sesshoumaru all alone in Kagome's bedroom for a good half an hour or so.

After lying to her mother about the whereabouts of Sota's homemade class treat, the mischievous young girl had gone back to her bedroom with the intention of telling Sesshoumaru to destroy the incriminating evidence, only to find the ethereally beautiful young man sitting on the edge of her bed with his face sickly pale. The odd appearance of Sesshoumaru had rendered the usually silver-tongued girl totally speechless. The ailing young man, for his part, briefly exclaimed that, suddenly, he needed to go home. Kagome just nodded her head in response as she watched her best friend leave her.

Baffled by Sesshoumaru's hasty departure, Kagome sat down on her bed, and that's when her bright blue eyes saw 'it' lying on her nightstand. 'It' being the very reason for Sesshoumaru's exceedingly lame exit. 'Its' true origins are that of a macaroni art project made by non other than Kagome herself with 'it' being the only name befitting such an unholy creation. The savvy girl had thought that she had banished the horrid thing to her desk under a pile of fashion magazines, but it appeared that Kagome had been mistaken. For the art project apparently had only been biding its time, watching, waiting for the right moment to strike. And strike it did.

Sesshoumaru had seen the bizarre picture and become so disgusted by its contents that he looked physically ill and had abandoned Kagome along with their friendship.

'It' was born on a hot summer night when the sweet young girl had been babysitting her neighbor, a cute little boy by the name of Shippo. After seeing his hero Bloo from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends make a macaroni picture of someone he loved (himself), the light brown-haired little boy had wanted to do the same. And Kagome, ever the connoisseur of cartoons, had been secretly dying to make one herself.

So the two budding artists had quickly gotten lost in a world of noodles and glue with some cut up music magazines added to the mix to lend some much needed indie street cred. Kagome, a secret diehard romantic, had decided to make a picture of Sesshoumaru, the bubbly girl trusting that her love would help ensure that her work would be mind blowing.

And mind blowing it was, but in a more 'goodbye cruel world' kind of way then 'that's awesome' kind of thing. Kagome can still remember clear as day the look of utter horror that Shippo had on his little face as he had struggled to figure out what to say about his favorite babysitter's blasphemous art project. So yeah, clearly time had not improved her art skills. If anything her artistic sensibilities had regressed to that of an infant's as Shippo's had ended up looking way better than the high school senior's, much to Kagome's chagrin.

The astute girl had purposely tried to deflect attention away from her repulsive creation by asking Shippo who the people in his craft project were. Shippo had explained that he had used the hard noodles to make a picture of his parents, and now he wanted Kagome to label it for him. The stellar student had agreed and drew an outline of letters that Shippo could color in, and then she had decided to do the same to her own art project. On the bottom of her abomination in her perfect honor student penmanship, the vivacious girl had written in huge black ink: Kagome loves Sesshoumaru.

And thanks to her creation's uncontrollable rage from being ignored since its birth, 'it' had slithered onto her nightstand were Sesshourmaru had seen 'it' in all its disgusting glory. That, or Kagome's mom had placed 'it' on her nightstand after 'it' had attached itself to the bottom of one of Kagome's magazines which is what Mrs. H had told Kagome. Either way, that thing, 'it', was the very reason why Sesshoumaru had dropped Kagome cold turkey.

At first, Kagome had thought about calling Sesshoumaru to explain, but she quickly decided against that strategy. What the egotistical young man had seen that day in all of its construction-paper and Elmer-glue glory was the true-inner workings of Kagome's soul, albeit in noodle form. Sure, it wasn't the romantic way that Kagome had envisioned for her feelings to be revealed to her crush, but the childish art form still had conveyed her feelings correctly: Kagome loves Sesshoumaru.

Kagome lay wide awake for some time, her mind never venturing far from the young man that she loved. When the emotionally-drained young girl finally did fall asleep, her dreams were of macaroni, making Kagome feel like she would never break free from her memories and…hungry. Oh, so hungry.

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Kagome awoke with the sun drenching her face while her tummy rumbled lightly as the still sleepy schoolgirl remained in bed. Blindly grasping random objects that resided on her night stand, Kagome searched for her cell phone. After a minute or so, totally annoyed at not finding her cell on her night stand, she actually physically got out of bed to see what the problem was.

All the exhausted girl found was some makeup, a lamp and that stupid macaroni picture that appeared to have lost some noodles. Staring at the art project, Kagome discerned that clearly "it" had become more hideous with the passing of time. Or at least that is what the young girl hoped was the case because if it wasn't...she shuddered at the implications. Ever since Sesshoumaru had left her and ended their friendship, 'it' had remained on her night stand with her flat out refusing to deal with 'it' altogether. That, and she was a total slacker. A straight A slacker, but a slacker none the less.

Heading downstairs for some breakfast, the pajama clad young girl noticed that her house was super quiet. 'How late am I?' thought Kagome as she went to the kitchen to get some breakfast. Opening a bag of bread the tired high school student slowly remembered that her brother, mother and grandfather had left for Tokyo last night because Sota's baseball team was in some sort of tournament. They were supposed to be gone for the rest of the week, meaning that the idle girl had to fend for herself. Hence, the slightly stale piece of toast that Kagome was probably only willing to eat because she was half out of it. Munching away, the blue eyed girl finally found her cell phone still in her purse which she had apparently left on the counter last night. Flipping it open, the saw that she had a text message from her Sango that read:

'Totally forgot- Kirara has a Doctor's appt! No worries! Hojo will pick you up, lucky girl!!'

Kagome was more than grateful that her cat loving friend had arranged a ride for her, even if it was Hojo. Glancing at the clock she figured that she had just enough time to take a shower and dress, so that meant that the natural beauty would be putting a little makeup on in the car.

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Kagome ran outside wearing a red dress that showed off her long-dancer legs and white high heels. The straight A student's jet black hair was pulled into a low-side bun that nicely called attention to her fluorescent hoop earrings. A fake smile, plastered across her face, she sauntered toward Hojo, already parked in the driveway.

The dark-metallic haired girl's smile quickly faded once she realized that it was not a car that Hojo had picked her up in, but a van. A big ugly soccer-mom van that was just so not cool. 'Probably safe to say that Hojo doesn't own it. Then again?' the slightly image conscious girl questioned herself, as she as elegantly got into the monstrosity.

Once she was seated, Kagome tried to, as politely as possible, shift some of the candy wrappers and pop cans that lined the bottom of her classmate's van to the side, so that the schoolgirl would have a place to rest her feet. Feeling fairly certain that she would never be wearing her new ivory heels ever again, the now utterly disgusted girl sighed, knowing what she had to do next.

"I am sorry for being late; I hope you haven't been here too long. Oh, and thanks for giving me a ride today," said Kagome not really caring if she came off sincere or not, as she pulled down the visor, only to have fast food receipts hit her in the face. Completely pissed off at Hojo and his abusive garbage truck of a vehicle, the annoyed girl dug through her purse for her makeup.

Hojo just smiled at Kagome and started telling his passenger about what he had been up to last night. Not that the stylish girl asked him or anything. The socially awkward young man just started talking on his own accord. She tried listening to her classmate's incessant chatter; really, she did, but to be honest, the young girl wasn't really sure why he always told to her about medical stuff. Sure, Kagome liked to help people and whatnot, like when a friend got a cut or something she would totally be there with a Hello Kitty Band Aid ready to go, but that was pretty much it.

'I mean, it is all that he ever talks about!' thought Kagome as she poorly, very poorly, applied some black liquid eyeliner on her eyelids. No doubt her lack of skill could be accredited to the disturbing presence of her driver and the memories that he provoked. Because every single time that Kagome saw Hojo, she had flashbacks, hideous repulsive flashbacks of their one date together. It was that or the fact that her unskilled driver seemed more partial to driving on the shoulder of the highway than on the actual road itself. Well, whatever was causing Kagome to glop on makeup like some 80's rock star-has been, she was positive that it was not her fault!

After a couple of minutes of scrubbing Kagome completely gave up fixing her eye makeup and decided to try putting some gloss on her pretty plump lips. Dabbing some of her second favorite lip gloss on her kisser, some unsettling images of what her lips had gone through came flooding into the young girl's mind. Hojo had kissed her. Yes, even Kagome herself has problems believing it took place, and she had been there. How that weirdo had gotten the nerve to kiss her, a total hottie, was beyond her comprehension. To make matters worse it had been the high school senior's first real kiss, and it had been a total bust.

It was so not how the closeted romantic had pictured her first kiss. Like most girls, Kagome had always dreamed that her first kiss would be legendary or something. Instead of the wind blowing through her shiny black hair as she watched the sun set the backdrop, the young girl's first kiss had been at the Dairy Queen drive through. The sloppy kiss that was planted on Kagome, with the Dairy Queen employees watching and waiting to hand Hojo their Blizzards, totally blew. And not in a good way.

Smacking her lips together, Kagome gave her makeup job the once over and frowned. The naturally-gifted girl was wearing way too much make up! Her thoughts were interrupted when the engine of Hojo's van started steaming and squealing like a pig. Thoroughly freaking out, she turned to her eerie classmate only to discover that he was spazzing out worse than she! Kagome, being the smart cookie that she is, grabbed the wheel and guided the van off into a ditch on the side of the highway while Hojo sat next to her in a comatose state.

Turning off the engine while setting the nasty automobile in park, the young girl nudged Hojo lightly before saying, "We should probably get out now and see what is wrong, ok?"

The odd young man wordlessly got out of the vehicle and stood there helplessly while Kagome popped open the hood and took a look. After her diagnosis the tiny girl turned to Hojo who looked liable to pass out at any moment and sighed.

"Hey, do you have your cell phone on you? You should probably call an auto mechanic," Kagome stated calmly, trying to reassure her Hojo that it was no big deal. Walking over to where the short-haired young man was standing, Kagome's sweet nature took over, and she placed a reassuring hand on his arm giving a gentle squeeze. Looking into his big brown eyes, the dependable girl felt certain that her weird friend was feeling more at ease with their current situation.

"You don't think it is going to explode, do you?" the dopey young man inquired.

15 seconds later…

Due to Hojo's insensitive remark that brought forth images of metal and glass impaling their young bodies, the two students were now yards away from the van. Thus, they were safe from any danger that lurked deep within the retarded machine's repulsively-ugly confines. Kagome had always known that there had to be a reason why she despised vans so. Well, one that wasn't so damn superficial that is. And now the young girl had her reason, 'Vans are death traps, plain and simple,' the frazzled girl mused, much like Kant himself.

Kagome started giggling at her own ridiculous thoughts, blaming malnutrition for her delirium. The famished schoolgirl was currently sitting on some grass trying in vain to fix her makeup while Hojo was on his cell with the auto mechanic or possibly his mommy.

Totally engaged in trying to peel off some of her makeup so that her true beauty could shine through, Kagome didn't notice when a shiny black BMW pulled up and parked. Nor did she see a tall young man get out of the car and rush over to her, but the preoccupied girl did hear a deep husky voice call out her name.

"Kagome!" cried Sesshoumaru briskly, as he stood in front of her and gave her a once over.

Feeling embarrassed at the current state of her face, Kagome tried to hide behind her compact, only to have Sesshoumaru crouch down in front of her and snatch the compact out of his "wife's" hand, tossing it to the side while he gently cradled her face. If Kagome hadn't been just inches from such a sexy man, the brand-conscious girl would have been livid that her expensive Chanel compact was now lying in a pile of dirt. Instead Kagome remained immobile while Sesshoumaru conducted his inspection.

"What are you doing?' Kagome finally questioned, her voice sounding fragile. If she hadn't caked on so much powder, the young girl's face would have been smeared with a deep blush, due to the gentle manner of her ex-best fiend. Even though she tried to steer her mind away from it, Kagome couldn't help but take pleasure in the way her "husband" was touching her. Sesshoumaru's strong hands were moving with complete conviction, and yet, at the same time, his examination was completely tender.

Sesshoumaru seemly pleased with what he saw stood up and looked at Kagome, the bright sun causing all of the young man emotions to be shielded from her. Kagome's shock at what had just transpired between her and former friend quickly faded only to be replaced by an intense sensation of melancholy. It just seemed to cruel to have her 'husband's' hands touch her like that without the reassurance that she would ever get to experience that kind of interaction with Sesshoumaru ever again.

"Are you ok?" Sesshoumaru inquired in a deep voice that resonated like thunder. The young man's tone demanding that his 'wife' abandon her contemplation of her current emotions and answer him.

"Yeah," Kagome quietly confirmed adding, "I don't know about Hojo, though."

The clumsy girl somehow managed to deftly get up and stand next to Sesshoumaru like an able bodied person, so that the two former friends could silently gawk at the aforementioned young man. Hojo was now talking to the auto repair guy who apparently had just arrived. The strange young man was fervently using big hand actions to convey the unimaginable horror that he had just been put through. All in all, Hojo kind of looked like an unrehearsed cheerleader.

"I'll give you a ride to school," stated Sesshoumaru as he walked off to talk to Hojo. No reply necessary. Watching her 'husband's' silvery-white hair glistening in the morning sun, Kagome knew she should heed his command, ugh, offer and go with him. And really, it's not like she had any other options.

Looking back at Hojo who was now on his cell phone crying uncontrollably, it was clear that going with her ex-friend was her only choice. That and Kagome did have a term paper due in her physics class that she had slaved away over for like at least 30 minutes. So, with the her oddly studious mind made up, she picked up her belongings, opting to leave her grimy compact on the side of the highway and headed over to Sesshoumaru's sports car.

The first thing the high school senior did once she got in the expensive vehicle was use the side mirror to check herself out. While Sesshoumaru's 'wife's' appearance was greatly improved, due to all the time she spent on the side of the road chiseling off her freak show makeup, it still was more makeup than Kagome usually adorned herself with. Looking herself over to make sure that she had brushed off all the dirt from the side of the highway and any wrappers that might be stuck to her thanks to Hojo's van of horrors, she noticed that her dress was hiked up into total skank territory.

The opening of the car door, accompanied with a no doubt deliberate grunt, alerted the flustered girl that the god-like man was now seated beside her. "Crap," Kagome muttered while turning to look over her shoulder for her book bag which she had thrown in the back seat. The totally improperly-attired girl quickly formed a plan that would involve her sitting up slightly to get her bag all casual like, while simultaneously pulling down her dress inconspicuously.

Gazing over at her 'husband', the young schoolgirl was greeted with an image that made her heart pound frantically in her chest. The young man's snowy hair was completely disheveled, resting on either side of his broad shoulders showcasing Sesshoumaru's prominent collarbone. His ivory skin was glowing from running to Kagome's aid, causing the young man's cheekbones to become stained with a light shade of crimson. It was the first time Kagome could ever remember seeing Sesshoumaru look so delightfully unkempt.

Noting that her ex-best friend was busy starting the engine, she started implementing her plan by slowly sitting up in her seat. Midway through the act of retrieving her dignity, her 'husband' placed a firm hand on Kagome's bare thigh causing the stunned girl to freeze. The methodical young man gently pushed his 'wife' back in her seat, her 'husband's' right hand holding her thigh firmly. Sesshoumaru leaned over, grabbed his 'wife's' seatbelt and buckled her in.

"Kagome," Sesshoumaru said, his hand squeezing his former friend gently, while a bewildered Kagome mindlessly stared down at her leg completely caught off guard by the sudden contact.

"I really don't think that it would be a good idea to rejoin that inane child. I may drive fast, but I promise you, I know what I am doing." As the cunning young man explained himself, Kagome blushed a bright shade of red as she locked eyes with Sesshoumaru.

"Kagome, you are going to be ok," said Sesshoumaru gently. "That kid just forgot to put gas in the van. And as for the reason why the van was smoking and making odd noises, that fool had multiple pairs of panty hose lying on the engine. Didn't you notice them when you popped the hood?" Sesshoumaru questioned, his lucid eyes shining with mischief at his jack-of-all-trade's 'wife'.

"How dare you call me out like that?!" exclaimed Kagome amongst a gaggle of giggles as she gazed into Sesshoumaru's sparkling honey-dipped eyes. The young girl was smiling brightly thanks to all the intimate skin to skin action that was currently taking place courtesy of her "husband".

"You do bring up a good point, Kagome," the sarcastically inclined young man concurred, his sunny eyes scorching hot. "Obviously, someone such as yourself, who willing took gym four times, just so she wouldn't have to take a entry auto class would know how to fix a supposedly busted engine," he added as dark laughter erupted from deep within his chest.

"What I don't get is, what did you think those panty hose were? Snakes?" The young man asked with a menacing chuckle, while searching his wife's big navy-blue eyes.

Gazing sweetly at her 'husband', Kagome tried to look innocent, which was really hard to do with a man's hand planted firmly on her bare thigh.

"Kagome, you cannot be serious," Sesshoumaru said incredulously, his vexing eyes widening slightly.

"Try snake skins, Sesshoumaru," the cheerful young girl replied with a patronizing tone that wasn't really working to full effect, due to the light laughter that accompanied her words. The proud high school student just sat next to his 'wife', bearing a look of repulsion, completely stupefied by the latest development in his 'wife's' logic, or lack of it.

"I am not stupid," insisted Kagome, only to have Sesshoumaru give her a look like she was, well, stupid.

"Listen, I don't know what his hobbies are, and frankly I don't want know!" the quick- witted girl added to what was quickly turning into a one-sided conversation as she playfully removed her 'husband's' hand from her creamy thigh and whacked him across his rock hard chest with it.

"Admittedly, cross-dressing is more likely than snake handling when it comes to Hojo," Kagome said smiling, while looking over at her 'husband' for his rebuttal only to find a vacant look now residing in Sesshoumaru's acute eyes.

Obviously, Sesshoumaru had hit his limit for talking, and Kagome was totally not in the mood to talk to herself while her husband listened in. Looking at the Adonis that sat next to her, Kagome finally admitted to herself that there is no way in hell that she could just be friends with Sesshoumaru. The way he had swooped in like a dark knight after Hojo's van had tried to molest her today had cemented things.

The thought of some random chick running her hands through Sesshoumaru's soft powdered-sugar hair, while kissing his no doubt skilled lips, while she would be expected to be all supportive-and friend-like made Kagome sick to her stomach. Opening the window for some air, the now ill girl closed her eyes and struggled to stay awake as the rays of the sun swaddled her soft skin like a baby's blanket.

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"Kagome." Her own name had never sounded more alluring. Kagome's lethargic body turned to source of the velvety voice.

Slowly, Kagome opened her deep blue eyes, only to see a smirking Sesshoumaru who was standing next to the open passenger-side door. After blatantly ogling the insidiously gorgeous young man, she closed her tired eyes, hoping for that ever evasive 'five more minutes.'

"Kagome," Sesshoumaru said with such vigor that it was like his smirk had seeped into his tone, causing it to sound vaguely playful.

Begrudgingly, Kagome looked at Sesshoumaru who was shaking his head at her while his mouth seemed to be at the end of a smile.

"Yes?" Kagome inquired as she tried to collect her thoughts and drive them away from slightly naughty things, dimly recalling why she was with her former friend in the first place.

"We're here," Sesshoumaru replied simply as if his 'wife' should understand where here was.

With the intent to rejoin her dreams which were currently in progress without her, Kagome turned her back toward her 'husband'. The fairy-tale loving girl just had to know how her latest dream ended.

"Kagome, get up," the words spilled out of Sesshoumaru like they disgusted him, but even Kagome could tell in her near unconsciousness state that he was far from appalled with her lazy behavior.

Not one to be denied, the subtly aggressive young man started to unbuckle Kagome's seat belt and effortlessly picked up his 'wife', placing her at the side of the car before shutting the car door. Totally awake and cold, she looked to see where they were.

"Hey, what gives?" asked the confused girl as she wrapped her arms around herself in a vain attempt to fight the cool fall breeze that was attacking her petite form.

It took a few yawns and batting of her eyes before Kagome noticed that she was in fact talking to herself outloud. Her devoted 'husband' had left her at the side of his BMW and walked into the restaurant, making Kagome feel completely asinine. And it didn't help the perplexed girl's mood any that the other patrons of the super sleek restaurant were now looking at her like she was a crazy person.

"Can't a person just have a quiet conversation with herself?" spat Kagome, while glaring back at those who dared to judge her. Giggling at her own joke, which really didn't help her cause, the unapologetically amiable girl made her way over to the no doubt expensive restaurant.

Finally finding her 'husband' seated all the way in the back of the swanky establishment, like he was some kind of mob boss or something, Kagome seated herself with a curious expression painting her youthful face.

"I want lunch," was all the perpetually arrogant man said before taking a sip of water as devious eyes flashed darkly at his 'wife'. Seeing how pleased he was with himself, Kagome's first instinct was to promptly tell him off. But when she thought about it, there was something else that her 'husband' had just said that was far more interesting than Sesshoumaru's usual petulant manner.

"Sesshoumaru, what time is it?" she asked while doing some math in her head. When Kagome had left Hojo it had been around 8:15 am or something. 'How long did I sleep? Like 10, maybe 20 minutes?' Kagome pondered as she looked around the posh restaurant for a clock.

"It's 11:30," he replied, his smooth voice sounding completely blasé as the long haired man started to play a little with his bangs, thus totally distracting his 'wife'.

'Well, now, this is a totally new move! Why have I not thought of this? What else am I missing? Down, ponytail both low and high, braid…' Kagome mused happily, her heartbeat rapidly intensifying as she happily watched her former friend.

To Kagome, the act of playing with his heavenly locks was almost like a challenge; it was as if Sesshoumaru knew exactly what his 'wife' wanted to ask him, but that hint of a smirk that resided on his face promised that he would never explain himself. As he continued to mess around with his ivory locks, his cogent eyes seemed to be on the verge of declaring victory over her. The fiery girl, hating to lose, looked away from her model-like former friend and tried to think about what the hell it was that they had been talking about before Sesshoumaru started seducing her with his hair.

"Ok, so tell me Sesshoumaru," Kagome began a minute or so after she stopped watching the conniving young man's show. Gazing at him, the young girl's indigo eyes glared brightly at her 'husband'. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" asked Kagome as she took a sip of water and waited for Sesshoumaru's non-answer rebuttal.

"If you ever had to deal with an exhausted Kagome, I think you would see that my actions are completely justified," the persuasive young man said coolly, so much for Sesshoumaru not explaining himself. "Besides, I did try to waking you up a couple of times, but you just mumbled some thing about macaroni and fell back asleep."

A faint blush graced her face at the mention of macaroni, but Sesshoumaru seemed unaffected. 'Of course he does,' thought Kagome, as her generally cute face crunched up into a scowl as she looked away from the infuriatingly-composed young man.

"Kagome, I know this restaurant has ice cream," coaxed Sesshoumaru, like he was bribing her to stay, his eyes glowing as he gazed at his 'wife'.

"You are aware that sounds like a kidnapper, right?" interjected Kagome, softly as she continued on. "And I have to tell you, Sesshoumaru, you are quite skilled. Having me willingly get in a car and then bringing me to a location with a so many witnesses." The happily-captured girl admitted as she gazed contently at Sesshoumaru.

"What are you so bluntly getting at, Kagome?" Sesshoumaru inquired, his deep voice sounding rough while his telling eyes were scorching hot.

"Will you let me go if I promise not to talk?" asked the young girl quietly with hopeful eyes as her faint blush became a rosy hew; her little act causing both of them to tersely erupt into fits of laughter. But, they were the only ones, for the restaurant had quickly fallen into a rigid silence as the rich patrons no doubt tried to figure out if they could somehow be considered co-conspirators in the young 'newlywed's' wayward little game.

"I guess some people just can't take a joke," Kagome said lightly, while absentmindedly wondering how her conversation with her 'husband' had become so decisively twisted.

"But who is joking Kagome?" questioned Sesshoumaru, with way too much sincerity in his 'wife's' opinion. So she promptly stabbed one of her 'husband's' classy black leather shoes with her heel, his wickedly demented answer causing the schoolgirl to become happily irate with fake fury.

"Kagome!" Sesshoumaru grunted in surprise as she flashed a warm smile and promptly grinded her heel into her 'husband's' foot. Shaking his head lightly, Sesshoumaru's eyes promised vengeance. The talented young man easily removed Kagome's heel from his shoe and promptly took his 'wife's' foot hostage with his skilled feet. Giggling like mad, Kagome brought her other high heel into the mix as she tried to free herself from Sesshoumaru, who was now laughing at her feeble attempt at regaining the upper hand.

Thus, an epic battle between girly-girl shoes and shiny rich guy shoes began among a chorus of 911 calls. The young 'married' couple's violent game of footsy totally made up for the young cutie's anxiety filled sleepless night. And to think, it was all thanks to Kagome not being a moron.

(Author's note: Hey!! Thank you, for reading this chapter! I am having a lot of fun writing this story. Perhaps, too much fun…Anyway, for those who inquired about the adjectives; I am happy with the stylistic choices that I have made. Not only is the visual vibe totally befitting of my work, but I think it helps conjure up the images of the manga Inuyasha nicely. See you next chapter!!)


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 The Essence of a Slacker

'When will it end?' thought Kagome as she anxiously eyed her captor. After their little lunch Kagome and Sesshoumaru had arrived at Posers High School's enormous parking lot with seemingly more than enough time for the young girl to make it to her physics class before the bell rang. But that beautiful and magical dream of being on time was dying a merciless death all thanks to her 'hubby' taking his sweet ass time parking the car.

Sesshoumaru had just chuckled sadistically at his victim's predicament. 'But, really? Is he capable of any other type of laughter?' Kagome quipped to herself before checking for like the 35th time that her paper was in her bag. The boy-crazy girl's usual behavior of examining her crush's every move had been hacked into and overridden by Kagome's latent inner nerd. The minute the two students had arrived at Posers' holy grounds her inner nerd had awoken with a vengeance, totally hellbent on getting her paper turned in on time regardless of the consequences…aka looking like a colossal dork.

There was something telling though in that deep chuckle that radiated off of Sesshoumaru like violent sparks from a vicious fire. His brand of laughter was generally reserved for mocking his half-brother's failures and all of the other fools that the stately man found slightly amusing in their insolence to his greatness. In this particular instance, however, it signified something far more pious and genuine. But Kagome, now in full on geek mode, didn't have the time or her usual social graces needed for such observations.

When the beguiled man had finally parked his expensive car, Kagome had noted much to her dismay that her 'husband' had parked as far away as possible from all the other typical crappy cars that most of their fellow students drove. After tripping over her own two feet and dropping her bag on the uneven pavement, the rushed girl regrouped before running into Posers High with Sesshoumaru's beaming eyes following her every awkward move.

And that is how Kagome currently found herself huffing and puffing her way through the school corridors on the way to her locker. The torpid girl was totally winded from jogging the football field length of the school's ridiculously massive parking lot. 'Perhaps all of my time devoted to cartoons is finally catching up to me?' Kagome contemplated while trying not to draw attention to the fact that she quite possibly could keel over at any moment.

Upon arriving at her locker and promptly getting pissed at the stupid thing's sadistic ways, Kagome fumbled with her combo until the cursed thing finally opened. Unlike her other teachers, the dictator that was her physics teacher only accepted papers on time. Thus, Kagome was determined to ignore the sharp pain in her side and her makeup bag that was screaming at her for a touch up. Keeping her eyes on the prize, the determined girl gracefully shoved her things inside the metal box before looking for the books that she needed for class.

"Oh! Kags! You actually showed up today. Good for you," teasingly greeted Kagome's feisty friend Ayame.

"Funny," mumbled the frazzled schoolgirl, her head still in her steel cocoon.

"Hey, if you can't come up with a better welcome than that, then I am not going to give you back your lip gloss that I borrowed yesterday," threatened Ayame shamelessly, and even from the inside of her locker Kagome swore that she could see a big grin slowly emerging on her perky friend's face.

Taking a deep breath, the reborn scholar shut her locker and gave Ayame a big, syrupy-sweet smile.

"You mean stole," Kagome corrected as she snatched back her beloved lip gloss before sprinting off to class with her thieving friend trailing behind; the two girls jubilantly laughed all the way to class as the androids of Posers eyed them unnervingly for enjoying life.

Noting there was a sub (some Myoga guy), Kagome, completely controlled by her apparently paranoid nerd-self, gave the pointy-nosed man a hard look as she handed him her paper which Myoga accepted with bulging eyes and sweaty, shaky hands as the bell rang. Sitting down in her spot and back to her old slacker self, the stellar student promptly zoned out because, ah, yeah, there was a sub.

Opening up her monster truck folder, which Kagome had been forced to buy because when she had finally gotten around to buying school supplies all the stores were sold out of cute stuff, the young girl frowned. A clear 'what the hell?' expression burrowed into her brow, for inside her Gravedigger folder, shoved together with all of her school work, was her epic 'love letter'.

In her mad rush to get ready for school this morning Kagome must have unknowingly shoved the 'love letter' into her four wheeler folder along with her schoolwork that had being lying on her desk. That would seem to explain how the 'love letter' got mixed in with her homework. But, honestly, that account of things, was just little too linear and boring for the vividly imaginative girl's liking, seeing as how she had like, an hour of daydreaming or so ahead of her.

'Could this be the work of 'it'?' Kagome questioned herself, as she began to wonder how the two inanimate objects could have even met in the first place. 'I mean they live on completely opposite sides of my bedroom…' the spirited girl reasoned. But thinking things over, she knew better than to dismiss the power of 'it'. And yet, while the 'it' theory was an intriguing hypothesis, there did seem to be more weight and, ugh, logic with the whole Kagome was full blown slob idea.

Whatever the reason, her 'love letter' had accompanied her to school and seeing as how physics is well, physics, Kagome hovered over her truck folder and re-read her note.

_Greetings Koga,_

_Hi. How are you? Me? I am good. Thanks for asking. Ugh, if you didn't ask just forget that I wrote that. Wait, I guess you wouldn't ask that, you would think that. Unless you talk to yourself out loud. Which is cool. I respect that. Just don't answer yourself out loud, because I have heard that's a sign of insanity. Anyways…. _

Staring wide eyed at the rambling note, Kagome was beyond mortified. 'How did I ever think that was funny? Or cute?' The repulsed girl questioned herself. 'And why is it 11 pages?!' The young girl berated herself while simultaneously being thankful that she had stolen the wordy-note back from Koga before people could read it. Well, people outside of Ayame, Koga and herself that is.

Ayame had seen it because, well, the 'love letter' was actually her brainchild. At a sleepover a few years back, after all the good dares like eating dog food and stealing had been used up, Kagome's zesty friend had dared her to write Koga a sappy love letter. It was a dare that she had gladly accepted, writing an opus of a letter. Though Koga was hot and popular, Kagome was just not that into him and he knew it. Because Kagome had told him. Repeatedly. So, the inspired-girl had thought, if nothing else, the dumb letter would be a cute little inside joke between herself and Koga.

If only past Kagome could have foreseen what would befall present Kagome. All thanks to the overzealous girl signing her letter 'Your woman, Kagome' Koga had been calling her 'my woman' at any inappropriate moment the taffy-haired young man could find. And Kagome couldn't lose the pet name quick enough because even though the spunky girl hadn't admitted it to any of her girlfriends yet, it was so obvious that Ayame's feelings for Koga had taken a turn this year and bloomed into love. That and the idolatry of Posers High fangirls had been getting rather ravenous of late.

Kagome slammed her Gravedigger folder shut. Her little trip down memory lane over, the suddenly sleepy girl's eyes glossed over as she attempted to actually listen to the sub pretend to know what he was talking about.

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At the end of class, Kagome had a very odd thing happen to her. Naraku talked to her. She wasn't friends with the guy or anything, but noting that the fire alarm was only a step away, she had allowed him to speak to her because, even though Naraku had a bloodcurdling persona, Kagome was certain that, deep down, the swamp-haired young man was a good guy. The congenial girl was sure of it. Ok, so, it was more like she had good reason to assume that he was a nice person. Sort of. After all, hadn't Kagome been taught by numerous teachers that most people are good people or something contrived like that? And just because many of those teachers themselves are hypocrites it didn't mean that their logic was flawed.

So like the sweet girl she is, Kagome had nodded and smiled like she cared while the skeevy young man talked. For being such a good sport she was rewarded with the information that her home ec class had been canceled today and tomorrow due to…ugh…something. Anyways, Kagome, only having eyes for Sesshoumaru, hadn't even been aware that Naraku was in her class but whatever! No home ec class? And she had her house all to herself? Oh, the possibilities….

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Kagome sat happily drinking a glass of orange juice while waiting for her order of pancakes. Yesterday she had spent her home ec hour taking a nap that oddly enough had lasted for eight hours, and the whole day had ended up being a wash. Due to her marathon nap, she had missed the delivery hours of her favorite pizza place and almost starved. That is why the young student vowed that today she would, for once, be productive with her time.

So Kagome skipped school and hit the local pancake place for some breakfast. But it should be noted that it was like nine in the morning, and she was physically out of bed. Sure, she was a little out of it, but that was to be expected.

Anyway, Kagome was sitting alone waiting for her pancakes, feeling pretty proud of herself for not lying in bed all day. Though, she did have her sights set on an afternoon nap. Suddenly the normal ringing that phones used to make back in the day started blaring off her cell phone alerting Kagome that she had a call. The capricious girl had tried using some of her favorite songs as her ringtone, but her love would quickly turn into hate with seemly no song in existence that wouldn't come to anger her after too many rings. So, after much thought, her phone now just went 'ring, ring'. Looking at her caller id and seeing a restricted number appear, the hungry girl shrugged her shoulders and picked up the phone.

"Hello?" answered Kagome just as a hot plate of flapjacks was placed in front of her. Her thoughts consumed with locating a fork and then introducing said instrument to her mouth, the drooling girl was slightly surprised when she heard a voice on the other end of the phone.

"Kagome," came the deep voice that could only belong to one man, and that man's name was no other than "it's Sesshoumaru."…yes, Sesshoumaru.

Not knowing if she was supposed to say something to the effect of "Whoa! Really? No way!!" or "Hmm," the puzzled girl opted to remain quiet.

"Why didn't you come to school?" Sesshoumaru asked, sounding vaguely concerned as Kagome's big eyes became transfixed by the food that lay before her. Licking her plump lips, the moral girl silently prayed that this phone call would have a quick demise.

"Oh, ugh, I don't feel good," revealed Kagome, the famished girl deciding then and there she would do anything required to get her 'husband' off the phone so she could eat in peace.

"Oh, you don't? That's too bad. Have you seen the doctor yet? How long have you been feeling sick? What is your aliment, Kagome?" Sesshoumaru quizzed, his voice sounding demanding and yet oddly tranquil at the same time.

"Yeah, I have like, smallpox," answered Kagome, the preoccupied girl just spurting out the first illness she could think of. Once it had dawned on her what she had actually said, Kagome became wide awake. Then again, maybe her 'husband' wouldn't notice what an utterly asinine blunder she had just committed? It wasn't like Sesshoumaru was a doctor or anything…

"Kagome, that disease died out in 1979," the young man practically spat out, his disbelief oozing into his tone.

"Uh-huh. Hey, it would probably be best if I let you go. You know, for my health," Kagome insisted, not having heard her Sesshoumaru's reply because she had set her cell phone down on the table so that she could butter her pancakes properly. Now embarrassed, she was really hoping that if she acted nonchalant about her moronic comment that maybe her 'hubby' would too.

"Are you alone? Where are you?" Sesshoumaru forcefully inquired, his dark tone causing Kagome to get goosebumps. Exited happy little goosebumps. But the sneaky girl was aware that she should ignore how hot Sesshoumaru sounded with an edge in his tone and lead him off her trail. She had an image as a model student with the top billing at Posers' High School to uphold, after all.

"I don't-"

"Kagome, do not even try to lie to me. I can hear people ordering food in the background," the young man scoffed, apparently a grade-A detective.

"Ok, ok. I am having breakfast alone at Flapjacks," Kagome confessed sheepishly.

"Hm, alone? Is that right?" Sesshoumaru asked seemingly to himself, and Kagome could practically hear the wheels in his head turning.

"By choice, obviously!" the borderline delirious girl blurted out with just a little too much passion. Kagome could only guzzle her orange juice like a lady as she listened to her 'husband' erupt into a relieved fit of laughter.

"Back to the matter at hand Kagome," Sesshoumaru finally continued in an alleviated manner after a good minute or so. "You have a potently deadly illness, which would cause a pandemic if there was an outbreak. And yet, miraculously, you had the strength to walk 3 blocks in the rain to Flapjacks?"

"Ok, you're using a lot of technical lingo here to make me sound bad," Kagome reasoned like any good court appointed defensive lawyer as she bathed her pancakes with maple syrup. Yes, she was coming off like a total airhead but, whatever; with her tummy growling for nourishment, it was a small price to pay.

"And by technical lingo, Kagome, are you referring to my correct use of logic and fact?" Sesshoumaru asked dryly.

"Mmmm!" was all Kagome could say rather moan into her phone due to the fact that she had finally cracked under the pressure and had shoved a big chunk of pancake in her mouth.

"Kagome, don't go anywhere. I will be there in ten minutes," Sesshoumaru hastily stated.

"Mmmhmm." The satisfied girl groaned; her mouth now full of strawberries. Kagome had ordered them after deciding that she should have something healthy with her meal. The fact that the fruit was dosed with blobs of whipped cream did not compute with the young sweet-addict. Even though the strawberries were swimming in a sea of sugar they were still fruit!

"From the sound of things I could came in two hours, and you would still be there. I will see you in ten minutes though." And with those insulting words, Sesshoumaru hung up on Kagome, much to the delight of the sick girl who was way too exited to be eating to question the actions of her 'husband'.

10 minutes later…

Kagome was reading the comic section of the local newspaper when she heard a manly grunt. Looking up, the now full girl was greeted by her 'husband' who was soaking wet. 'Men,' Kagome thought at she gazed at Sesshoumaru who apparently was too cool for an umbrella. His long pearly white hair was drenched with his bangs sticking to his forehead. Due to his condition, and his choice of clothing (white top and light khaki pants), her 'husband's' mouth-watering form was almost completely visible to Kagome's virgin eyes.

"Hi," said the adoring girl, laughing slightly. Trying to rein in her devious thoughts of tugging off all of Sesshoumaru's wet clothes and helping him get warm, Kagome quickly turned her attention to the paper that resided in her hands. Placing his hardcover book and cell phone on the table, the illusory young man eyed his 'wife' who was calmly pretending to read the weather section of the paper before sitting down in the chair right beside her.

Sneaking a glimpse at Sesshoumaru, she soon realized that he looked even better close up with his damp shirt hugging his muscles tantalizingly. Fearing that her lack of self-control was crumbling with each deep breath that her 'husband' took, the crafty girl dug her nose into her paper and forged a plan. Kagome was about to ask Sesshoumaru if he wanted to get a towel so that he could dry off and not look so tempting, only to have the waitress show up.

"So…you do have a little friend, eh?" the old bat taunted Kagome. The young singleton just sat there with her mouth now slightly agape at the bravado of the waitress. 'Why can't a girl eat alone and not be branded a loser by society?' Kagome fumed to herself as her fair skin was hit with a wave of strawberry blush.

"I am her husband," injected Sesshoumaru smoothly, catching Kagome completely off guard. That must have been the scheming young man's plan because before her thoughts become coherent, the shocked girl found herself entangled in the wet brawny arms of Sesshoumaru.

The waitress winked her approval at the affection of Sesshoumaru with her good eye while her bad eye was looking three tables over. "What'll it be, sonny?" cackled the truly disturbed waitress while Kagome tried to process what was happening to her.

"I will have whatever my wife had," Sesshoumaru answered as he pulled Kagome onto his lap, the virile man apparently not satisfied with his 'wife's' degree of wetness.

"Wow, wow! Ok, lovebirds, let's try to remember that this is a family restaurant alright?" the troll like waitress stated before waddling away from the 'married couple'.

The old woman was clearly insane, and Kagome never felt more self-conscious in her entire life. There she was, like in all her dirty fantasies, sitting on the lap of a virtual god with his strong arms holding her tiny body tightly against his drenched form and yet something didn't quite match her daydreams…oh, right. Kagome had never dreamed about hooking up with Sesshoumaru while a bunch of truckers watched!

"Are you ok?" Sesshoumaru cordially whispered into Kagome's ear, her 'husband's' hot breath causing an intense shiver to run down the dazed girl's spine.

"Um, yeah. Totally," the tense girl weakly replied as there wasn't a single soul in the packed breakfast joint that didn't have their eyes glued to the lovey-dovey 'married couple'.

"Good," affirmed Sesshoumaru, his voice indicating that the young man was clearly amused. The content young man then gave Kagome a little squeeze which to the rest of the people in the restaurant must have looked like a tender hug. Because some of the woman who were watching the love-birds, slapped their own husbands as to say be more like that debonair gentleman. Or at least that was how Kagome had chosen to read the actions of the mostly elderly audience that she and her 'husband' had acquired.

Kagome though was well aware that Sesshoumaru's little bear hug was done to insure that she would become completely soaked. And sure, it sucked to have a bunch of nosy people watching, but the stupefied young girl couldn't help but kind of start to enjoy her newfound imprisonment. It was as if the slightest touch by her 'husband' caused a glitch in her brain and forced all social norms out the widow.

Both of Sesshoumaru's long arms were placed around her taut tummy, her shirt having ridden up a little, so that his finger tips lightly gazed his 'wife's' smooth skin. A noise that loosely resembled a whimper escaped Kagome's lips at the inhuman treatment which was so dangerously close to her daydreams that the light-headed girl felt like she was being teased from up above.

Her inaudible noise only brought a cruel laugh from her affectionate 'husband', and in that moment Kagome was in bliss for due to her rather close proximity to Sesshoumaru she had felt his chuckle vibrate throughout his entire body. The solicitous girl decided in that moment, as she sat completely drenched in her 'husbands' lap, that she really missed Sesshoumaru's brand of 'laughter'. It was so dark and rich with a tiny pinch of joy thrown into the mix. The most mystifying 'laugher' belonging to the most captivating man Kagome had ever met.

Always a classy dude, Sesshoumaru placed the bemused girl back in her spot once he was satisfied and before a manger kicked them out. The moment her ass hit her seat, the hold that Sesshoumaru had over her shattered, leaving behind a sharp mind that had been absent all morning long. Turning toward her 'husband', Kagome's eyes were blazing; she was ready to let him have it, only to spot Koga, the stud of the school, making a beeline for their table.

"Hey, Kagome! Sesshoumaru!" called out Koga in a gruff but savory voice. Koga was wearing a tight white-t and dirty jeans along with a pair of military boots, giving the most popular guy at Posers High an alternative-rocker edge.

"Why, hello, my dear friend. What brings you to this fine establishment?" Sesshoumaru's wife greeted carefully, using Koga's preferred title in an effort to curry his favor. Looking him dead in the eyes, Kagome pleaded with flirty friend to not utter the nickname in front of her 'husband'. 'He is a pseudo-rocker after all! He should be all about originality and crap,' Kagome concluded anxiously only to see Koga unleash a teasing smirk onto his rugged face that promised nothing but impending doom.

"I just came by to see how my woman is doing," Koga stated earnestly as he looked at the object of his affection with clear, thoughtful eyes.

"Koga, what did I tell you about calling me that in public?" hissed Kagome while turning sideways in her chair. The young girl's face quickly inflamed due to sitting on only half of her chair, Kagome's knees involuntary rubbed and pressed up against Sesshoumaru's thigh.

"Oh, right," Koga softly concurred, like he had come to some sort of understanding,

"I suppose you don't want your lover over here to know about what we have got going on, huh?" the young stud speculated before winking at his favorite girl to tease, the theatrical girl's reactions having never once left him disappointed.

"Shut up, Koga!" Kagome snapped, her face now a violent shade of red due to Koga referring to Sesshoumaru as her 'lover'. 'Am I that obvious?' the worried girl questioned herself as her face began to hurt slightly under the strain of blushing so brightly. 'Ugh! That blockhead!' she thought, the _Charlie Brown_ comic that she had read earlier having affected her mind. 'What was the right move to make after Koga's bonehead comment?' Kagome quickly contemplated.

"Leave, Koga," ordered Sesshoumaru, who up until now had been acting indifferent to everything that was playing out around him.

"Whatever, I just dropped by to say hi," huffed Koga, while giving a pointed look towards Sesshoumaru before resting his eyes once again on his anxious friend. "I swear Kagome, you just picked Sesshoumaru to be your husband to mess with me! And let me tell you, baby, its working!" Koga surmised as he flashed a frisky smile at 'his woman' before walking away to join some of his fangirls for an impromptu meet and greet.

Relived that Koga's friendly harassment was over, Kagome placed her arm on Sesshoumaru's damp shoulder and leaned into him slightly, giving him a little squeeze. The tomato red girl was instantly relieved that she was able to pull off this so called friendly gesture without groping her 'husband' to death. To accomplish said sweet gesture, all of Kagome's weight had shifted onto the right side of her chair causing the left side to tip up. If the gesture had been quick and therefore truly friendly like the delusional girl was trying to convince herself it was, then the way that she was sitting on her chair would be no big deal because the imbalance would be short lived.

But such was not the case for Kagome because the friendly-pinch caused Sesshoumaru to turn his head and look at her with a scorching expression; an array of emotions flickered across his golden eyes like a book being flipped through by an overzealous reader.

Due to her perilous sitting arrangement and the fact that she was dwelling in the eyes of Sesshoumaru while he was doing the same in her vibrant orbs, neither one of them picked up on the fact that Kagome was falling out of her chair and face first into her 'husband's' lap until it was too late.

The next thing she knew, Kagome's face was staring at the ugly rusted orange tile that adorned the floor of Flapjacks, her apple-behind firmly planted in the air with her hot pink lace boy shorts exposed to Sesshoumaru's discerning eyes. It took another moment to pass before Kagome realized that not only was her perky butt on Sesshoumaru's lap, but that her 'husband's' hands were also on her ass. The compromised girl assumed he was trying to help her up, but for all intense and purposes it felt like her crush was coping a feel.

At the sound of shuffling feet, Kagome turned her head only to see a pair of beaten brown shoes with chubby toes sticking out stop right in front of her. "Here you go. Enjoy. But from the looks of things it appears that you two already are!" the decrepit waitress honked and wheezed as she placed Sesshoumaru's meal in front of him.

Sesshoumaru seemed to snap out of whatever was going through his mind then because he moved his hands off of his 'wife's' tight ass and swiftly placed the dumbfounded girl onto her feet. Taking her seat, Kagome vacantly faced forward, unsure how to proceed.

"I called you and came here because even though we didn't have class yesterday or today for that matter, we do have an assignment due tomorrow," Sesshoumaru plainly explained, like nothing had happened, before systematically cutting up his pancakes and taking a refined bite.

Kagome for her part just nodded her head and listened. Since when did her 'hubby' ever explain himself? Then a thought came bouncing into the reeling girl's pretty head. Throughout the whole course of their 'marriage' whenever Sesshoumaru did anything remotely caring, he always felt the need to defend himself.

"We're supposed to do something together and document it," the levelheaded young man stated while trying to run a hand through his damp mane.

Looking at her 'husband' like a fascinated researcher who just got a grant to study hot men, Kagome couldn't help but let a gleeful smile slip as she watched her tablemate eat all proper-like. He was quite the package; even when he was wet as a dog he still had a royal air about him.

Shaking her head slightly at her proud 'husband', Kagome's eyes scanned their table. Her objective was to find the paper so that she could entertain herself while her old ball and chain ate, but the curious student's eyes quickly zeroed in on the Japanese sword book. Reason never one to be her ally, the snooping girl picked up the hardcover book and just for comedy's sake the cerebral young man's phone. Cradling the two objects, Kagome thoughtfully ran her hand lightly over the top edge of the hardcover book's bookmark.

"Excuse me," scoffed Sesshoumaru, as he clamped his strong hands over hers and swiftly pulled his belongings from her clutches, putting them out of his 'wife's' reach. 'Like I can't just get up and take them again!' Kagome mused to herself with a giggle as she warmly locked eyes with Sesshoumaru.

And in an admirable effort to appear unaffected and thus, not look amused at his 'wife's' klepto-ways, Sesshoumaru weakly reprimanded his ex-best friend like a child. The amused girl for her part, smiled while Sesshoumaru went on a feeble tirade about personal belongings and the importance of asking permission. Kagome listened like any kid, just agreeing with whatever they are being told so that the lecture will end sooner. The 'wife' of Sesshoumaru had to force herself to play the part of a repented listener for she had finally made a decision on something.

"Kagome, are you even listening to me?" asked the enthralled young man, his eyes sparking and completely clashing with the stormy expression that encompassed his fine face.

The avid glint that resonated in her 'husbands' eyes so strongly caused the young girl to giggle like a schoolgirl, which Kagome was, so it totally worked. Sesshoumaru for his part kept his annoyed demeanor about him, but his sharp eyes laughed right along with her.

When her melodic laughter resided, Kagome decided to throw her 'husband' a bone and steer the subject back to what they were talking about earlier.

"So, how do you plan on documenting our outing? Like, should we take a kids menu and have our crazy waitress sign it?" the effervescent girl offered, laughing lightly at the thought of that nutty broad.

"That would be acceptable," Sesshoumaru agreed, his telling eyes betraying something wonderful in their golden depths. Kagome knew that what she loved about Sesshoumaru was his core, his essence, and was it possible that he loved her too? Before it seemed so unlikely; it just didn't make sense, the whole loving her but ending their friendship thing. Truthfully, even now, things weren't making complete sense to Kagome, yet the photo, lunch yesterday and breakfast today…could it be possible that such a prestigious young man like Sesshoumaru loved the essence of a slacker?

(Author's note: Hi! How are you? Ah, good to hear. Hey, I hope you enjoyed The Essence of a Slacker because I did. See you next chapter!!)


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